Sunday Salon – 3/3

Sunday Salon – 3/3

by Carol10 Comments
Yes, it's Monday, but we got home late last night. Week’s Highlight: We saw The Phantom of the Opera at the Benedum yesterday evening. I've never seen the show, although I did listen to the book a couple of years ago. I knew a lot of the music, of course, it's hard not to. The show was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed it. The masquerade. Photo from https://triblive.com/. Watching: Nothing really. What shows do you recommend? Something my husband and I might both enjoy? Reading: I'm still plugging along on Don Quixote. I'm also in the middle of Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac I posted one review this week: The Library Book by Susan Orlean Playing: On Friday we played Dominion: Renaissance a couple of times. We also pulled out Hanabi, which we hadn't played for a while. Hanabi—named for the Japanese word for "fireworks"—is a cooperative game where you're trying to create the perfect fireworks show by placing the cards on the table in the right...
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The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

by Carol11 Comments
I should have loved The Library Book by Susan Orlean. It's both a love letter to libraries and a true crime story of the Los Angeles library fire of 1986; crime and books is often a great combination. While it didn't live up to my expectations, it was a good book. Orlean obviously loves libraries and we learn so much about them here, history, inner workings, the populations they serve and the needs they meet. We learn about the variety of librarians, their passions, their jobs, their backgrounds. She also visits OverDrive, which I didn't know is in Cleveland. I wonder if they offer tours of the facility? The true crime portion focuses on the Los Angeles library fire, which was deemed arson at the time, although Orlean speaks to at least one expert who thinks that was probably not true. As the blurb states, the fire was devastating, but I found the way the community pulled together to help save the...
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Sunday Salon – 2/24

Sunday Salon – 2/24

by Carol6 Comments
I looked back to see what books I was reading 10 years ago. One of the books I read was outstanding, most were unmemorable. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent - I don't remember this one at all, but I gave it 4 stars at the time.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson was fantastic. It's interesting that we actually watched the most recent Lisbeth Salander movie last week.Too Tall Alice by Barbara Worton - I don't remember reading this one with Amber at all. And I'm not sure why I would have read a book about being too tall, that's one thing neither Amber nor I have ever worried about.A Killer Collection by J. B. Stanley - This looks like it was a cozy mystery. I don't remember it, but that's really no surprise, cozy mysteries can blend together, especially when you've only read one in a series.Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne - We...
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The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

by Carol12 Comments
The Stranger Diaries is a contemporary mystery, but with the feel, and potential hauntings, of a gothic novel. Modern gothic novels don't always work for me, but the combo was flawless here. Clare Cassidy is an English teacher at Talgarth High; she is divorced and has a 15 year old daughter, Georgia. At the school, there is a building where R. M. Holland, a reclusive Victorian writer, lived. Clare is writing a biography of R. M. Holland and is interested in the death of his wife, Alice Avery, whose ghost haunts the school. Then, Clare's best friend and colleague, Ella Elphick, is found murdered with a note that is a quote from Holland's "The Stranger": "Hell is empty." The whole story is actually framed by Holland's creepy "The Stranger," with bits thrown in at just the right times. The Stranger Diaries is told from three female points of view, Clare, her daughter, and DS Harbinder Kaur, the lead investigator on the case....
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Something Fresh by P. G. Wodehouse

Something Fresh by P. G. Wodehouse

by Carol7 Comments
I've read several of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie books, but Something Fresh is the first of his Blandings Castle series I've picked up. It was funny and light-hearted and just a nice break. Lord Emsworth, owner of Blandings Castle, accidentally stole a valuable scarab from his son's fiancée's father, a millionaire American. Our two main characters, Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine, are headed to Blandings Castle for a house party, both trying to retrieve the scarab and receive the reward. They both are impersonating servants, so we see a lot of what is happening downstairs. Ashe and Joan have a lot in common even though they have only recently met; they are both writers, both live in the same building, both could use a new direction, something fresh. In the meantime, Lord Emsworth son may or may not be a spot of trouble over a former crush. Now that he is engaged, those letters he wrote to another woman may cost...
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Sunday Salon – 2/17

Sunday Salon – 2/17

by Carol16 Comments
Week’s Highlight: It's not much of a highlight, but it took most of Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I organized our board games and set aside two piles, one to take to my mom's and one to donate. https://www.instagram.com/p/BuAFNYcHTc3/ Celebrating: Thursday was Valentine's Day. We stayed home and had my favorite pizza for dinner and played a board game. We did go out for dinner on Friday to my favorite Italian place. Watching: We watched The Girl in the Spider's Web on demand last night. It was fine. Lisbeth Salander is tasked by a former NSA employee to find his highly dangerous program, Firewall. It gives its user access to all of the world's nuclear codes, and Balder is worried about that power falling into the wrong hands. Lisbeth downloads Firewall by hacking into the NSA's servers and plans on giving it back to Balder, so he can destroy it. Of course, it all runs amok. It's dark and cold. I enjoyed it, but didn't love...
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